In December, Field Medic released his latest album boundless & true. Now, the prolific singer-songwriter is already back to announce its follow-up, surrender instead. The lead single "MELANCHOLY" is a lugubrious, beautiful gem.
"After getting sober, years in therapy, and for the first time taking an antidepressant, I would still sometimes suffer from days or weeks of stifling depression," Kevin Patrick Sullivan explains about the song, continuing:
Experiencing that unique and dreadful feeling comes as quite a shock when you've been "doing the work" and "healing" in the ways that I had been, and still am.
I had just read William Styron's Darkness Visible, which is his memoir about his time in the throes of a depressive episode. Having also recently written a doo-wop song for a pitch for sync, the ’50s chord progression was fresh in my mind, as well as the examination of melancholy as a lifelong disease that waxes and wanes, but may never go away entirely.
As usual, clever lyrics abound: "My heart will never mend/ This misery knows no end/ Melancholy took my joy again and again/ There’s no cure for this condition/ I’ve been to hell I’ve been to heaven/ I’ve been a beggar I've been a baron." The tragic words paired with the doo-wop sound make "MELANCHOLY" sound like it's from another century. Watch the self-directed music video below.
TRACKLIST:
01 "tricks & illusions"
02 "castle peaks"
03 "simply obsessed"
04 "no hometown"
05 "MELANCHOLY"
06 "opposite fantasies"
07 "INFERNO"
08 "coffee in the morning"
09 "falling out"
10 "the journey to the center of nothing"
TOUR DATES:
10/05 - Kansas City, MO @ The Warehouse on Broadway^
10/06 - Columbia, MO @ The Blue Note^
10/07 - Des Moines, IA @ Wooly's^
10/09 - Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue^
10/10 - Madison, WI @ The Sylvee^
10/11 - Chicago, IL @ The Salt Shed^
10/13 - Lakewood, OH @ The Roxy^
10/14 - Detroit, MI @ Saint Andrew's Hall^
10/15 - Toronto, ON @ The Danforth Music Hall^
10/17 - Boston, MA @ Citizens House of Blues Boston^
10/18 - New York, NY @ Webster Hall^
10/21 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club^
10/24 - Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer^
10/25 - Charlottesville, VA @ The Jefferson Theater^
10/26 - Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel^
10/28 - Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl^
10/29 - Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse^
10/31 - Oklahoma City, OK @ Tower Theatre^
11/01 - Austin, TX @ Scoot Inn^
11/02 - Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall^
11/03 - Dallas, TX @ The Echo Lounge & Music Hall^
11/05 - Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf^
11/08 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda Theatre^
11/11 - San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore^
11/14 - Eugene, OR @ McDonald Theatre^
11/15 - Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom^
11/16 - Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre^
11/18 - Boise, ID @ Treefort Music Hall^
11/19 - Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot^
11/20 - Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom^
^ supporting Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners
surrender instead is self-released on 8/8. Pre-order it here.
